Uncoiler with side shift control



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 R. T. TODD ETAL vUNCOILER WITH SIDE SHIFT CONTROL June 3,

Filedv Feb. 2a, 1952 June 3, 1958 R. 1'. TODD ETAL 2,837,295

uNcoILER wITH SIDE SHIFT CONTROL Filed Feb. 28, 1952 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 RUSSELL T. TODD PAUL MC CREARY United States Patent' O' l 2,831,295 UNcolLER WITH sinn SHIFT CONTROL Russell T. Todd, Youngstown, and Paul McCreary,

Poland, Ohio, assignors to The McKay Machine Company, Youngstown, Ohio, la corporation of Ohio Application February 28, 1952, Serial No. 274,026

7 Claims. (Cl. 242-785) This invention relates to apparatus for handling strip material and more particularly to improved apparatus for uncoiling strip prior to treating and processing thereof, for example. i

It is an object of the present invention to provide improved uncoiling apparatus embodying a pair of relatively movable coil supporting heads and novel actuating means therefor whereby coils of material may be placed in an operative position for uncoiling and subsequent treating and/ or processing in arninimum of time and with utmost facility.

Another object of vthis invention is the provision in apparatus of this character of a novel means of controlling the movement of the relatively movable coil supporting heads whereby upon a coil being rotatably supported by the heads the same may be synchronously shifted longitudinally of the axis of thecoil in order to properly center the material with respect to treating or processing apparatus which may be associated with the uncoiling device. As will become apparent upon consideration of the description to follow, our novel control means may be advantageously used to provide longitudinal adjustment of a coil during the uncoiling thereof to compensate for any tendency of the material to shift to one side or the other of a predetermined pass line as may be caused by camber in the strip, for example.

More particularly the invention provides a uid control circuit for an uncoiling device as above mentioned whereby each of the relatively movable heads of the apparatus may be moved inwardly and outwardly of the pass line in a manner independent of the movement of the cooperating head, but upon a coil being supported in the device actuation of either of the heads in a direction toward the other will cause both to shift while at the same in connection with standard uncoiling apparatus, and is' readily adaptable for installation on existing uncoiler units of the type having longitudinally adjustable coil supporting heads.

Various other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent to one skilled in the art to which it pertains upon full consideration of the following detailed specification and accompanying drawing wherein is disclosed a certain preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary axial section of an uncoiling device constructed in accordance with the principles of our invention;

Figure 2 is atop plan view of the apparatus of Figure l, there being omitted from the figure certain conventional coil rotating and braking elements illustrated in Figure l; and

Figure 3 is a trol circuit which may 'oe utilized to control the apparatus of Figure 1 in the manner proposed by our invention.

tially the same and therefore but one will be described herein, with reference being made to corresponding parts of the other through the use of primed numerals.

Mounted directly upon the guideways 12 for to and fro sliding movement therealong is a supporting stand 14. Secured to the upper portion of the stand, or forming an integral part thereof, is a cylindrical housing 15 which is adapted to receive a shaft 16. The shaft 16 is rotatably supported by means of anti-friction bearingsy 44 and 45 and is directed parallel to the guideways 12 as shown. Rigidly'secured to an inwardly extending end portion of the shaft 16 is a coil supporting mandrel 17 which is preferably of a conical or frusto-conical shape in order to facilitate entry into the center opening of a conventional coil of strip or sheet material 18.

In the illustrated embodiment, longitudinal movement of the supporting head 13 is effected by means of a conventional .hydraulic cylinder 19, the body member of which is secured to the base member 10, and the piston member of which is secured to the stand 14. As will be apparent the application of fluid pressure to the cylinder 19 will cause the stand 14 to be moved inwardly or outwardly of the pass line of the material as may bedesired.

In accordance with usual practice in this art we have4 provided a vertically movable coil cradle 20 located centrally of vthe base 10 and is normally retracted to a rela- Fatented June 3,V 1958V vide means comprising motor 22, gear reducer 23, andl gears 24 and 25 (shown here mounted upon the stand 14) to slowly rotate the shaft 16 and hence the coil 18,1

to initially thread the material into rolls 26 of an associated processing device. provided suitable braking means comprising wheel 27 and Upon the stand 14' we have brake band 28 whereby tension may be applied to the* material leaving the coil 18 as is often desirable.

It may be understood that by application of suitable fluid pressure to the outer ends of the cylinders 19 and 19', a coil 18 may be securely held by the mandrels 17 1 and 17'.

It will be further understood, however, that' shape of the coil 18, as for example out-of-roundness of the center opening or axial displacement of the convolutions of the coil, may cause the material to be olf center`r schematic showing of a hydraulic con-f` with respect to the desired pass line. Thusit is highly desirable to provide means of longitudinally adjustingy the position of the coil 18 after the same has beeni clamped by the mandrels 17 and 17 so that the material the coil as the material pays oif so that any of the outer convolutions which may have shifted axially with respect to the innermost convolution may be fed-vinto the rolls v 26 in proper alignment. Also, compensation may be effected for camber in the strip which tends to Vcause the strip to creep laterally. VJe provide for such adjustment by means of the hydraulic circuit shown in Figure 3. In this illustration we provide conventional four-way valves 2.9,and 29..which communicate with asource offluid by means of conduits 3i) and 30', and with the forward ends of cylinders 19 and 19 through conduits and 3l'. Connecting the outer end of cylinder 19 with the valve 29 we provide conduit 32, a three-way valve 33 and conduit 34; a similar arrangement being, of course utilized to connect the cylinder 19 and four-way valve 29.` In accordance with the invention we connect the valves 33 and 337 with conduits 31 and 31 respectivelyrby means of conduits 35 and 35 and check valves 36 and 36. An exhaust conduit 37 or 37 is connected to each of the conduits 35 and 35 intermediate the check valves and the three-way valves 33 and 33.

Valve 33, as valve 33', is normally retained in one of its two operative positions by means ofk a spring 38 which acts upon one end of the valve plunger 39. With the plunger 39 in the position shown, conduit 32 cornrnunicates with conduit 34 and hence with the outer end of cylinder 19. Thus the piston member of the cylinder 19 may be actuated in either the forward or reverse direction by the proper setting of the four-way valve 29 as willbe understood. Y

To shift the plunger 39 'to the other of its operative positions we provide an operator 4t) which is adapted in response to the application of a predetermined pressure thereto to move the plunger against the action of the spring 38, or inwardly as viewed in Figure 3. As provided by the present invention the plunger 39, when in the second-mentioned or inner position is operative to connect conduit 34 with the exhaust conduit 37 and with conduit 35 through the check valve 36. Conduit 32 is of course isolated from the circuit with the plunger 39 in the inner position.

Pressure for actuating the operator 40 is obtained through a conduit dll which communicates with the outer end of the operator dil and with the outer end of the oppositely disposed cylinder 19. Thus it may be observed that upon the attainment of a certain predetermined pressure at the outer end of the cylinder 19 the plunger 39 will be caused to shift inwardly removing the pressure from the outer end of the cylinder 19 and permitting the fluid therein to circulate through conduit 34, valve 33, check valve 36 and conduit 35 to the forward end of the cylinder 19 with a conventional pressure relief valve, not shown, inserted between the conduit 37 and the source ofhydraulic uid.

As shown. an identical arrangement is provided for` vway valve 42which is in communication with a source of. uid throughconduit 43. After raisingthe coil 18 to the proper height the valves 29 and 29' may be operated to apply pressure to the outer endsiof cylinders 19 andr19 whereby the mandrels 17 and 17 are moved inwardlyinto the center opening of the coil.

With the coil 18 thus supported upon the mandrels the cradle 20 is lowered to its normal retracted position. Should it then be found necessary to center the coil Witlrespect'tothe rolls by, for example, shifting the coil toward the left, the operator merely manipulates the valve 29 to apply pressure to the outer end of cylinder 19'. The piston member of cylinder 19 will of course be ylocked firmly in position due to the iluid which is trappedV at eachA of its ends. Thus fluid pressure will bpild up in the cylinder 19 untilsuch time as it becomes slhcientto actuate the operator 40 to shift the plungerg,

.. loading of the coiled material.

39 inwardly. With the plunger 39 in its inner position a circuit is formed 4which connects the outer andinner ends of the cylinder 19 whereby the piston member thereof is released and moved to the left due to the force exerted upon the piston of cylinder 19.

lt will be apparent that as the piston member of cylinder 19 is moved to the leftfluid will be forced out of its outer end and drawn into its inner end through the conduit 35./ VDue to thedisplacement'of'the piston rod, however, there will be a greater volume of liuid displaced from the outer end of the cylinder, than will be drawn into the inner end. To discharge the excesswe have lprovided the exhaust conduit which is' connected into the conduit 35 betweeny thevalve 33 and the check valve 36. The cli-eci: valve is of course necessary to prevent discharge olT fluid from the forward end of the cylinder.

in order that the circuit connecting the inner and outer ends of cylinder' 19 be maintained it is of course requisite that sufficient pressure exist in the conduit 3d. It should therefore be understood that the plunger 39 will inherently be positioned so as to permit fluid to iiow through the conduit 34 only to such extent as will create a certain baci; pressure Within the outerend of cylindery 19. This pressure will determine the clamping force exerted upon the coil 18 and will be dependent upon the characteristics of the valve 33.

To shift the coil 18 in a direction toward the right thc valve 29 is manipulated to move the supporting head 13 inwardly.l By the same arrangement as above described the opposite supporting head V13 will move to the right against .a certain back'pressure by means of which the coil is maintained securely clamped between the mandrels 17 and 17'.

The coil may of course be released at any time by causing either or both ofthe supporting heads 13 or 13 to move outwardly.

- It should now be apparent that we have accomplished the objects initially set forth. We have provided a novel arrangement for uncoiling strip material which is particularly adapted to facilitate the positioning of a coil in operative relation to apparatus which may be associated with operations of this nature. The arrangement as hereinbefore set forth provides means of simultaneously shifting the coil supporting mandrels of conventional uncoiling apparatus whereby the same may be substantially instantaneously adjusted to properly center a coil with respect to a desired pass line without aecting the normal clamping pressure upon the coil.

It will be noted that while the coil supporting heads are normally independently movable, the arrangement of our invention, while providing fork simultaneous movement for adjusting the coil position, does not require such means for simultaneous movement to be independent of the means for moving the heads individually. Rather we eliminate this heretofore necessary expediency by providing a hydraulic circuit comprising a novel combination of conventional elements whereby a coil will' remain under a predetermined clamping pressure even during movement of the supporting heads.

It will further be noted that the system proposed by the present invention is readily adaptable for use on many uncoilers presently installed and in operation. It has of course been common in such uncoiling apparatus to utilize independently movable coil supporting heads to lfacilitate lt should thus be apparent that the adaptation of the control system of our invention to such existing apparatus would be well within the scope of one skilled in the art.

Having thus described a preferred embodiment of our invention, what we claim is new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. In uncoiling apparatus having a base and a pair of oppositely disposed coil'supporting heads slidable on said base; hydraulic systems for moving each of said supporting heads, each of said systems comprising a hydraulic cylinder operatively connected to said base and one of said supporting heads and adapted to move the same inwardly and outwardly along said base, a source of uid, a four-way valve communicating with said source of uid, a irst conduit connecting said four-way valve and the inner end of the cylinder of one of said systems, a second conduit connected at one end tothe outer end of the last mentioned cylinder, a pressure responsive valve connected to the other end of said second conduit, a third conduit connecting said pressure responsive valve and said fourway valve, said pressure responsive valve being normally operative to connect said second and third conduits and alternatively operative to connect said second conduit with an exhaust port, and a fourth conduit connecting said pressure responsive valve With the outer end of the cylinder of the other of said systems, said pressure responsive valve being operative in response to predetermined pressure in said fourth conduit to shift to its alternatively operative position. i

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 further characterized by said pressure responsive valve having a valve plunger adapted to normally connect said second and third conduits and alternately operative to close said third conduit and connect said second conduit with said eX- haust port, yieldable means adapted to urge said plunger into its normal position, an operator adapted upon the application of a predetermined pressure thereto to move said plunger against the action of said yieldable means into said alternative position; and said fourth conduit connecting the outer end of the cylinder of the other of said systems and communicating with said operator whereby the pressure in the outer end of the last named cylinder is transmitted to said operator.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 further characterized by a fifth conduit connecting said exhaust port and the inner end of the said cylinder of one of said systems, a check valve interposed in said fth conduit permitting unidirectional iiow of uid therein from said port to said cylinder, and an exhaust conduit communicating with said fth conduit between said check valve and said port.

4. In uncoiling apparatus having a base and a pair of oppositely disposed coil supporting heads slidable on said base; hydraulic systems for moving each of said supporting heads, each of said systems comprising a hydraulic cylinder operatively connected toy said base and one of said supporting heads and adapted to move the same inwardly and outwardly along said base, rst and second conduits connecting the inner and outer ends of the cylinder of one of said systems, a four-way valve communieating with said conduits, a source of tluid connecting said four-Way valve,the arrangement being such that vfluid under pressure may be supplied to either end of the last mentioned cylinder while exhausting the other end, a pressure responsive valve having a port communicating with the outer end of the last mentioned cylinder and an exhaust port, a control conduit connecting said pressure responsive valve and the outer end of the cylinder of the other of said systems, said valve being operative in response to a predetermined pressure attained in the outer end of the cylinder of said other system and transmitted to said valve through said control conduit to connect the said ports of said pressure responsive valve.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4 further characterized by a third conduit connecting said exhaust port and the inner end of the said cylinder of one of said systems, a check valve interposed in said conduit permitting unidirectional ilow of uid from said exhaust port to said cylinder, and an exhaust conduit communicating with said third conduit intermediate said check valve and said pressure responsive valve.

6. In uncoiling apparatus having a base and a pair of oppositely disposed coil supporting heads slidable on said base; hydraulic systems for moving each of said supporting heads, each of said systems comprising a hydraulic cylinder operatively connected to said base and one of said supporting heads and adapted to move the same inwardly and outwardly along said base, first and second conduits connecting the outer and inner ends respectively of the cylinder of one of said systems, a fourway valve communicating with said conduits, a source of fluid communicating with said four-way valve, the a-rrangement being such that uid under pressureV may be supplied to either end of the last mentioned cylinder whileexhausting the other end, means communicating with the outer end of the last mentioned cylinder and including a valve responsive to the attainment of a predetermined pressure in the outer end of the cylinder of the other of said systems to permit the exhaust of uid from the outer end of said tirst mentioned cylinder.

7. In apparatus for uncoiling metal strip and having a base and a pair'of oppositely disposed coil supporting heads slidably mounted on said base for inward and outward movement toward and away from each other; the improvement which comprises separate hydraulic cylinders for moving each of said heads independently of the other whereby the individual positions of the heads may be determined as well as the spacing between them, separate hydraulic circuits connecting said separate cylinders, said separate circuits including separate control valves, separate pressure responsive valves connecting each of said cylinders and providing for outward movement of said cylinders and heads independently of said control Valves, 'and a single source of hydraulic fluid under pressure for energizing said hydraulic circuits.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,250,025 Klein July 22, 1941 2,464,932 Jones Mar. 22, 1949 2,567,670 Iverson et al Sept. 1l, 1951 

